Bacon hanger



Dec. 10, 1946.

Patented Dec. 10, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

The hanger of the present invention is designed for the purpose of impaling slabs of bacon along a line near the end edge of the slab preliminary to the-hanging of the impaled slab in a smoke room or smoke house during the curing period. In commercial packing houses, it is customary to advance the slabs of bacon on a carrier in procession'al relation and as each slab passes in front of the attendant, one of the hangers having a row of impaling prongs is forced downwardly into the slabs in preparation for its removal to the smoke room where the bacon slabs, each with its hanger, are suspended in rows from an overhead rod or the like, and there remain during the curing period, which usually occupies about four days. During the curing period, the slab is dried to a considerable extent. and unless it is firmly impaled, the rind, which is on the outside and away from the impaling prongs will tend to curl backwardly especially in the vicinity of the corners of the slab which curling tends to warp the slab as a whole and cause its release from the prongs, Even if the slab be not completely released, any considerable warping of the slab especially at or near the corners is highly objectionable since the warped slabs will not stack evenly and fail to measure up to the highest quality standards.

Hangers of the type commonly in use at the present time are provided with prongs which extend in a horizontal plane rearwardly from and at right angles to the vertical plane of the hanger when in use. With the prongs thus disposed, they are forced inwardly at right angles to the face of the bacon slab and in planes coincident with the grain of the bacon with the result that as the suspended bacon slabs are cured and subjected to a warping tendency. the prongs afford an insufficient grip on the substance of the slab to prevent relative movement therebetween with possibly a complete release of the slab from the hanger. I am also familiar with a hanger in which prongs of the character above described are bent upwardly in oblique relation to provide hooks which are intended to more firmly impale the slabs, but with the prongs thus disposed the face of the bacon slab along its upper margin tends to contact bodv portions of the hanger which prevents access of the smoke and thus results in imperfect curing along the up er margin of the slab, leaving white streaks where the curing has been interfered with.

In both hangers above referred to, no adequate provision is made for firm impaling of the slab at points near the upper corners since the outmost prongs are frequently inserted an inch or two inside of the edge of the. bacon slab so that the adjacent upper corner, being unimpaled, will tend to curl back in the formation of an ear which is highly objectionable in itself and also subjects the adjacent region to warping strains'which are not adequately resisted.

The present invention is intended to overcome the difficulties above noted by deflecting the row of impaling prongs laterally within a horizontal plane so that the prongs as they are driven into the face of the slab will traverse the slab in oblique relation to its face and transversely of its grain which will have the effect of tying the substance of the slab together and reenforcing its'structure from edge to edge so that it will be adequately reenforced to withstand the warping tendency, and maintain a substantially plane or flat condition during the curing operation without danger of release from the hanger. Further objects and details will appear from the description of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawing; wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the forward end'of a bacon slab with the obliquely disposed impaling prongs partially thrust therethrough by a direct pressure from above.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the hanger looking toward the points of the prongs.

Fig. 3 is a view looking upwardly toward the prongs showing their relation to the bacon slab which is illustrated in section: and

Fig. l'is an enlarged detail showing one of the marginal prongs in its imp-aling relation to the edge of a bacon slab.

The hanger as a whole is formed of wire sections which are spot welded or otherwise rigidly secured together to provide a body portion indicated in its entirety by the numeral iii, which occupies mama plane when in use and which is suspended from a'hock H. The body portion comprises an upper rail l2, the ends of which are bent downwardly at right angles in the form of legs is which terminate in rearwardly projecting impaling prongs M which lie within a horizontal plane, but project obliquely at an acutev angle of substantially 45 to the plane of the body.

The body further comprises a lower horizontal rail G5 which is of greater length than the upper rail and terminates in downwardly extending marginal legs it which carry obliquely disposed end prongs I"! likewise lying within the same hori- I zontal plane as the plane of the prongs M. The hook II is formed of a looped section of wire which is twisted below the hook to provide a neck l8 and the wire sections below the neck are spread to provide center legs I9 terminating in oblique prongs 20 lying Within the same horizontal plane as the plane of the prongs Hi. In addition to the members previously described, the upper and lower rails are intersected by intermediat legs 2| terminating in oblique prongs 22 disposed in the same horizontal plane as'the plane of the prongs M. The various portions of the frame at the points of intersection are united in a rigid structure by spot welding or the like with all of the prongs extending in parallel relation to one another and within the same horizontalplane and in oblique relation to the plane of the body 50 that as the prongs are forced into the bacon slab, they will traverse the substance of the slab diagonally or in an oblique direction thereby, so that each prong will throughout its extent impale ,a substantial width of the slab, and the prongs are so spaced that the tip of each prong approximately overlaps the base of the next adjacent prong so that every portion of the slab, from edge to edge, is firmly reenforced and held against warping r displacement. Furthermore, the oblique arrangement of the prongs enables much longer prongs to be employed for a bacon slab of given thickness, than is possible with ri ht angularly extending prongs, Without causing the points to impinge against the tough bacon rind R which tends to limit the extent of prong insertion in the slab. Furthermore, it will be noted that an oblique arrangement of the prongs affords adequate reenforcement along each edge of the bacon slab regardless of the exercise of extreme care of impaling the slabs, since the outmost prongs necessarily traverse extended marginal areas along opposite sides of the slab adjacent the upper corners so that the curling back and the formation of ears is resisted, and the en- 'tire upper portion of the slab is thereby influenced to maintain its fiat or plane condition. Furthermore, the prongs by their oblique arrangement adequately resist any backward tension tending to pull or strip the slab free from the prongs since the prongs present an extended lateral area at a substantial angle to any displacing tension, and repeated tests have shown that bacon slabs suspended during the curing operation with the hangers of the present invention maintain a much flatter condition than slabs suspended in the usual manner.

Although the prongs extend obliquely, they will lie within the same plane and in parallelism to one another so that no difiiculty will be experienced in forcing the prongs evenly and to substantially uniform depth within the bacon slab by the downwardly applied pressure of the attendants hand. Of course, under downward pressure, as the prongs traverse the slab, the hanger, as a whole, will shift laterally to a slight extent, but this lateral shifting does not in any way interfere with the even and accurate im palement of the slab as they are delivered to the attendant.

Although I have shown and described a hanger formed of intersecting wire sections secured together in the manner described, it will be understood that the invention relates, primarily to the oblique-disposition of the prongs themselves in relation to the body of the hanger and that it is not intended, unless otherwise indicated in the claims, to limit the formation of the body portion to the features previously described.

I claim:

1. A hanger for bacon slabs comprising an elongated body having means for suspending the same and a row of parallel impaling prongs all extending rearwardly from the body and all 1ying in a substantially horizontal plane and defiected along the length of the body laterally in the same direction and in substantial degree away from right angle relation to the body and adapted to be driven into a slab of bacon in oblique rela-' tion to the plane of the surface thereof.

2. A hanger for bacon slabs comprising an elongated body having means for suspending the same and a row of parallel impaling prongs all extending rearwardly from the body and all 1ying in a substantially horizontal plane and deflected along the length of the body laterally in the same direction and at an angle of substantially 45 to the plane of the body and adapted to be driven into a slab of bacon in oblique relation to the plane of the surface thereof.

3. A hanger for bacon slabs comprising an elongated body formed of plural vertical and horizontal wire sections secured together, the middle vertical sections being extended upwardly and looped to form a hook, the horizontal sections being deflected downwardly at their ends to form vertical legs, and the legs so formed and the vertical sections all terminating in impaling prongs all extending rearwardly from the body and all lying in a substantially horizontal plane and deflected along the length of the body laterally in the same direction and in substantial degree,

away from right angle relation to the body, and adapted tobe driven into a slab of bacon in oblique relation to the plane of the surface thereof.

e. A hanger for bacon slabs comprising an elongated body formed of plural vertical and horizontal wire sections secured together, the middle vertical sections being extended upwardly and looped to form a hook, the horizontal sections being deflected downwardly at their ends to form vertical legs, all the legs terminating in impaling prongs all extending rearwardly from th body and all lying in a substantially horizontal plane and deflected along the length of the body laterally in the same direction and atan angle of substantially 45 to the plane of the body and adapted to be driven into a'slab of bacon in oblique relation to the plane of the surfacethereof.

SAMUEL M. TOMINELLO. 

